Projects and Programs

Principal Investigator: Lisa S. Gardiner
Funders: National Science Foundation via University of Colorado, Boulder

Short Summary:

In partnership with researchers from the AirWaterGas team, curriculum experts from UCAR Center for Science Education convened a cohort of middle and high school science teachers who teach in areas of Colorado with oil and gas development. During the 2014-2015 school year, the cohort participated in a series of online professional development courses about the local and global impacts of oil and gas development. Teachers learned best practices in science curriculum development and then completed curriculum projects as Teachers-in-Residence. The PBS LearningMedia  website includes a select group of the activities, with short videos created in collaboration with Rocky Mountain PBS explaining fracking and its impacts. The project also developed explainer articles in collaboration with Inside Energy at Rocky Mountain PBS to answer general public questions about the impacts of oil and gas development in Colorado. 

Principal Investigators: Lisa Gardiner
Funder: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), US Department of Commerce

Short Summary: 

These educational resources were developed at the UCAR Center for Science Education as an outreach effort of Argos, a system of instruments aboard satellites used to track tagged animals around the world and help understand other aspects of our planet.

This collection of classroom activities and the Follow Me! comic book tell the stories of animals that are often hard to observe — animals that live in hard-to-reach places, travel long distances, or live underwater. Based on research projects that track animals with satellites, these activities illustrate how technology can help us learn about the natural world. 

Principal Investigator: Kathryn Guimond
Funder: NOAA Environmental Literacy Program

Short Summary:

The Climate Youth Labs (CY-LABS) project builds youth participation in local climate resiliency efforts through support for educators and students in Minnesota and Wisconsin. The UCAR Center for Science Education developed and facilitated two teacher professional development sessions for the CY-LABS project educators. These sessions shared place-based examples of environmental change and impacts focused on strengthening educators' expertise using data with students. We also shared a climate data visualization module, which was developed for the project by UCAR’s COMET program, as a tutorial for teachers using climate data in the secondary classroom. We worked in collaboration with the University of Wisconsin-Superior, the University of Minnesota’s Hennepin County 4-H program, and the Native Sun’s Solar Cub program in the Red Lake Nation. Support was supported by the NOAA Environmental Literacy Program Award number NA23SEC0080011.

Principal Investigators: Lisa Gardiner
Funder: NSF-CAREER via University of Virginia

Short Summary:

UCAR Center for Science Educations Lisa Gardiner worked with University of Virginia professor Kevin Grise to develop the Clouds, Weather, and Climate Teaching Box. The educational resources in this virtual teaching box have been designed and sequenced to help build student understanding, align to the Next Generation Science Standards, and connect with Grise’s area of research.

Principal Investigators: Randy Russell, Susan Foster, Rajul Pandya
Funders: National Science Foundation via Colorado State University

Short Summary:

The Center for Multiscale Modeling of Atmospheric Processes (CMMAP) Science and Technology Center was an international consortium managed by Colorado State University. CMMAP developed a revolutionary approach to climate modeling to help us better understand the roles clouds play today and in the future as our climate changes.  

UCAR Center for Science Education’s two main contributions to CMMAP education efforts included 1) development of educational resources for K-12 education and 2) support for undergraduate and graduate students via the NSF SOARS Program. UCAR Center for Science Education created educational simulations, activities, and articles about clouds and climate for K-12 teachers and students. CMMAP resources can be found in the Learning Zone section of the website. The NSF SOARS Program is a workforce development program designed to broaden participation in Earth system science. Proteges conduct research in the geosciences, with multiple levels of mentoring over the course of one to four years. These activities contributed to CMMAP’s vision for education, which is “Earth-science literacy for students, teachers, policy makers, and the general public.

Principal Investigators: Becca Hatheway, Lisa Gardiner
Funder: NSF PIRE via the University of Rochester

Short Summary:

UCAR Center for Science Education worked with scientists from several U.S. universities, led by a team from the University of Rochester, to develop educational resources about the biogeochemical cycles and related processes in Central Asia and the Pacific Ocean that influence Earth system variability. To be used at public science events and in museums around the country, these materials include an interactive station-based game, a hands-on activity exploring dust and other sediments, a map-based interactive Google slide deck, datasets viewable in augmented reality using the MeteoAR app, and interpretive materials that will accompany Science On a Sphere® (SOS) visualizations of dust transport in the atmosphere. You can find all of these resources in English and in Mandarin. 

Principal Investigators: Becca Hatheway, Lisa Gardiner
Funder: NASA

Short Summary:

Elementary GLOBE, part of the GLOBE Program, is designed to introduce students in grades K-4 to the study of Earth system science through storybooks and hands-on learning activities. The Elementary GLOBE curriculum resources include seven learning modules: Air Quality, Climate, Clouds, Earth System, Seasons, Soils, and Water. Each learning module contains a storybook and several companion classroom activities. A Teacher Implementation Guide provides an overview of Elementary GLOBE, standards alignment, and information about the curriculum’s connections to other parts of elementary school curricula.

In each storybook, the GLOBE Kids (Simon, Anita, and Dennis) explore an aspect of their local environment. Storybooks are available as free downloadable PDFs and eBooks at Elementary GLOBE and are available for purchase from Amazon. Hands-on classroom activities, coloring pages, and the Teacher Implementation Guide are available as free downloads from the Elementary GLOBE website. 

Principal Investigators: John Ristvey, Randy Russell

Funder: National Science Foundation-funded ITEST project with the Division of Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings (DRL) in partnership with the University of Colorado, Boulder

Short Summary:

Engineering Experiences explored how middle school students from low-income families could engage in engineering after school to complement the science and engineering learning during the normal school day. Our initial goal was to introduce various engineering topics/platforms related to the atmosphere and associated sciences, including wind power, solar energy, aircraft design, atmospheric sensors, and testing physical models of dropsondes using a wind tunnel. We then developed over a dozen lessons using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) or drones that were very popular with students ranging from upper elementary through high school. The project team tested our learning materials with several after-school programs in Colorado, which served students from low-income families by offering after-school or summer programming for students.

Principal Investigators: Lisa Gardiner
Funder: NASA

Short Summary:

GLOBE Data Explorations are classroom activities developed by the UCAR Center for Science Education to help students learn how to analyze GLOBE environmental data while also learning atmospheric science concepts and geography. All activities can be downloaded for free, and the GLOBE Data Explorations book is available from Amazon.

Principal Investigators: John Ristvey, Becca Hatheway, Lisa Gardiner
Funder: NASA

Short Summary:

With GLOBE Weather, middle school students explore phenomena related to weather and storms during a five-week unit to help them understand weather at local, regional, and global scales. They analyze weather data collected by schools that are a part of the GLOBE Program, and they collect their own observations of the atmosphere following GLOBE Atmosphere Protocols.

Developed to address Next Generation Science Standards, the GLOBE Weather curriculum focuses on student explorations of weather phenomena, utilizing a storyline approach within the BSCS 5E learning cycles. The curriculum focuses on analyzing and interpreting weather data and developing models to explain and document student understandings. Avenues for further explorations of weather with the GLOBE Program provide opportunities to extend learning with student research projects.

Principal Investigator: Lisa Gardiner
Funder: NOAA Environmental Literacy Program

Short Summary:

Hurricane Resilience is a high school environmental science curriculum for use in coastal locations where hurricanes are common. Through 20 days of instruction, students make connections between the science of hurricanes, how they affect their community and region, and how we can plan for a more resilient future. Making local connections, students develop an understanding of 1) the risks that their community faces now and in the future due to hurricanes and tropical storms, 2) how sea level rise increases the risk, and 3) how our actions can help us be less vulnerable and more resilient. The curriculum unit aims to empower high school students to have a voice in resilience planning and understand the relationship between the science of hurricanes and the local impacts these storms have on people and places. The curriculum was developed in collaboration with the South Louisiana Wetlands Discovery Center and with science expertise at the National Center for Atmospheric Research. It was piloted and field-tested in Terrebonne Parish and Lafourche Parish schools. 

Principal Investigator: Kruti Desai 
Funder: IOOS Association 

Short Summary: 
The UCAR Center for Science Education, in collaboration with the UCAR Center for Ocean Leadership and the Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) Association, developed a K-12 educational toolkit which consists of seven classroom activities adapted from resources previously developed by the IOOS Regional Associations, and aligned with NGSS educational standards and Ocean Literacy Principles. Most of the activities incorporate ocean observing data available from IOOS’ open access data platforms. The activities explore topics such as coastal hazards, changing ecosystems, and food from the ocean. The toolkit activities and resources are available in Spanish and English and will support educational programming within the IOOS Regional Associations and beyond. Funding for this project was provided by the Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) Association.

Principal Investigator: Lisa Gardiner
Funder: National Science Foundation via Yale University

Short Summary:

UCAR Center for Science Education’s Lisa Gardiner worked with Yale professor William Boos (now at UC Berkeley) and COMET visualization expert Steve Deyo to develop monsoon science educational resources, including web-based articles, illustrations, and a data-driven visualization of global monsoon patterns. Resources were disseminated online via the Learning Zone and the Learn About Monsoons section of the World Monsoons website and used in a Yale University summer course about monsoons for high school students.

Interim Program Lead: Marissa Vara
Funder: National Science Foundation 

Short Summary:

We are proud to be the host program for the National Science Foundation Significant Opportunities in Atmospheric Research and Science (NSF SOARS) office. NSF SOARS is an undergraduate-to-graduate bridge program designed to broaden participation in the atmospheric and related sciences through building a strong and supportive learning community, impactful scientific and career mentoring, and providing hands-on experiences in research. NSF SOARS is designed to promote and support research, mentoring, and community. NSF SOARS Protégés can participate for up to four (4) summers conducting research in atmospheric and earth-system sciences. Over 90% of NSF SOARS Protégés advance to graduate school, and many enter the workforce with a MS and/or Ph.D. degree.

Principal Investigators: Carol McLaren, Principal Investigator and Project Director, Sandra Henderson, Co-Director

Funder: National Science Foundation

Short Summary:

Project LEARN: Atmospheric Science Explorers was developed at UCAR and NSF NCAR between 1991 and 2001. Activities and readings from Project LEARN are now within the UCAR Center for Science Education. 

LEARN: Atmospheric Science Explorers (LEARN) began in 1991 with funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to help fill the critical need of science teacher professional development. NSF funded two versions of LEARN. The fundamental goal of both LEARN programs was to increase middle school science teacher knowledge of and interest in the atmospheric sciences. The first project began in 1991 and brought 40 middle school and junior high school teachers from California, Colorado, North Carolina, and Texas to the NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research (NSF NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado for three consecutive summers. The second project was funded in 1996 and partnered with 48 teachers from rural schools in Colorado. In addition to the three consecutive summer workshops at NSF NCAR, LEARN staff and scientists from NSF NCAR traveled to the rural Colorado school districts for three additional days of instruction.

Much of the instructional and science content foundation for the LEARN workshops came from the teaching modules developed by LEARN teachers in collaboration with more than 60 NSF NCAR scientists. The three modules included background information, hands-on activities using simple materials, and authentic assessment tools. The modules–Ozone in Our Atmosphere, Atmospheric Dynamics, and Cycles of the Earth and Atmosphere–were not designed to replace existing curricula or textbooks. Rather, they were intended to enhance earth and physical science programs by incorporating atmospheric science concepts. These modules were created by teachers for teachers.

Principal Investigator: Becca Hatheway 
Funder: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

Short Summary:

With the Project Resilience curriculum, high school students examine the environmental challenges facing communities along the Gulf of Mexico and learn about resilience planning using a resilience planning toolkit. The curriculum spans about 20 days of class time, divided into seven lessons, with an optional student project extension (Lesson 8). The first four lessons of the curriculum focus on learning about the environmental challenges and scientific processes in the Mississippi River delta. Students gain an understanding of what the Mississippi River delta is and how it forms, why deltaic formation is important for coastal communities in the Gulf region (including the importance of wetlands and estuaries), and why the deltaic coast is vulnerable. Lessons 5-7 of the curriculum, focus on resilience planning and adaptation strategies using a resilience toolkit. As a case study, students explore current and future projects planned for Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana, including criteria for choosing and evaluating factors that put communities at risk, and the scope of different types of projects. Project Resilience then leads students through the development of a School Resilience Plan, which contains student-designed projects to address one or more environmental challenges affecting their school campus. An extension of the curriculum is to implement one of the student projects from the School Resilience Plan. Project Resilience was developed by UCAR Center for Science Education and the South Louisiana Wetlands Discovery Center (SLWDC), and was piloted and field-tested in the four Terrebonne Parish high schools. This project was supported by the Gulf Research Program of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine under Grant Agreement number 2000009811.

Principal Investigator: John Ristvey
Funder: National Science Foundation 

Short Summary:

The STEM Career Connections project is a partnership between the UCAR Center for Science Education, the University of Colorado, Boulder, and the Vail Valley Foundation. This project aims to develop an innovative career readiness model for both in and out of school settings that will profoundly increase the knowledge of and interest in STEM and computing careers for middle school youth in rural mountain state communities. To achieve this goal, we have three integral components of the project: 1) a community partnership working together to support youth engagement in STEM and computing career pathways, 2) a STEM curriculum where youth use advanced sensor technologies to engage in science and engineering investigations, and 3) integrated career experiences that encourage youth to make personally-relevant connections with local STEM and computing occupations. One outcome was the creation of the STEM Partnership Toolkit, an online resource for developing community partnerships that shares strategies and tools developed during the project. Funded by the National Science Foundation, this project aims to advance the efforts of the Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) program.

Principal Investigator: John Allen
Funder: NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program

Short Summary: 
This CAREER project, in collaboration with UCAR’s COMET program and Central Michigan University, developed learning activities for both non-science majoring undergraduate students and high school students around the topics of convective storms, hazards, and social media literacy. The SciEd team led development of two hands-on high school lessons, including field testing with high school science teachers. The COMET team led the development of an undergraduate social media literacy lesson as well as an interactive that lets students manipulate humidity and air temperature to see the storm intensity and hazards that might result. Both the high school and undergraduate-level social media lessons use the SIFT method (Stop, Investigate, Find, and Trace) to evaluate the credibility of social media posts about weather and the Earth system. Support for the development of these resources was provided by the NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program.

Principal Investigators: Lisa Gardiner
Funder: US Department of State via the GLOBE Implementation Office

Short Summary:

The Zika Zine is an outreach effort of the GLOBE Zika Education and Prevention Project. This informal education resource was translated into ten languages and disseminated to librarians and teachers in the GLOBE Mission Mosquito network. 

While the Zika Zine’s fictional mosquitoes can talk, they otherwise do the same sorts of things as real Aedes mosquitoes, which carry the Zika virus. Read the Zine, learn how Aedes mosquitoes live, and discover how to reduce the number of places where mosquitoes can survive. You’ll also find out how citizen scientists are helping NASA by documenting mosquito habitats with GLOBE Observer. After you’ve read the Zika Zine, download the coloring pages, How to Draw Wanda in 9 Easy Steps and Make Your Own Zika Zine Comic and create your own mosquito pictures and stories.